The next day William and Julia both decided to take the morning off and take Susannah to school, which she didn't like.
As they got to the entrance of the school, she ran fast in front of them, "ok, goodbye mommy and daddy. See you at 3:00."
"Have a good day, darling" Julia said
"Learn lots, sweetheart" William said
They both waited outside for a few minutes, after hearing the 2nd bell ring, which meant prayers were done and walked into the doors and down the hallway to the headmaster's office.
The meeting with Father McCrae, began to get heated,
"Mr. and Mrs. Murdoch…"
"For the 3rd time, it's Dr. Julia Ogden"
"Yes…doctor, as I was saying, if Susannah said she fell down the stairs…well she fell"
"Father, the bruising. I have seen it before, on a victim, and it was made by a paddle board."
The Father sits back in his desk, "I didn't want to say this but…"
"But what?" Asked William to was getting annoyed and angry
"Your daughter, tend to speak her mind." He gives Julia a dirty look, "I can see, where she gets it from"
"You…" William was about to punch him, when Julia stops him, "if she speaks her mind, then we are proud of our daughter. But curious, how does she speak her mind?"
The Father gets out a folder, and looks at a slip of paper, "she recorrects the nuns, lessons and maths equations, plays physical games, like baseball, with the boys. Which is inappropriate in our society, as the girls, go to the sewing room."
Both William and Julia smile, as they grabbed each other's hand, "and we are so proud of her"
The Father angrily closes the folder, "you're encouraging nonsense to her. All females, either should be staying at home and be loving wives and mothers…or nuns."
William looks at him, "as a fellow Catholic man, I have been prouder of my wife, who's a loving wife, mother and excellent doctor. If Susannah, turns out to be just like her, I would die a happy man"
The Father gets up and goes to his window, "well I don't know what else to say, but Susannah did indeed fall down a set of stairs. But if you keep encouraging her with this nonsense, maybe this school isn't suitable for her. You both are dismissed, good day"
Julia was about to say something, when William grabs her hand and they leave, "good day, Father"
As they walked down the hallway, Julia becomes frustrated, of what he said to them, "how dare he say, that about Susannah. I wanted to throw a punch at him"
"Why do you think, I stopped you."
"William he is hiding something, I can feel it"
"I can feel it too."
As they continued on, they walk by a young nun, who nodded at them, before turning back to see, who they were, "excuse me?"
They turn, "yes?" William said
"Are you Susannah Murdoch's parents?"
"We are, and you are?"
"Forgive me, I'm new apprentice here, sister Fiona. I just have to say, how much I adore your daughter. But I'm concerned about her"
"Concerned?"
"Two weeks ago, she told me how excited she was for Tricks or Treats, coming up. I was gone for 3 days, out of the city and came back, and I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween. She told me, not doing it, it's not appropriate and stupid"
"Interesting. Anything else?"
She waves them into a room, that was emptied, "sorry, I wasn't sure who would be listening, but every time she recorrects one of the nuns of their teachings, she gets a slap on the hand. But in my absence, a new nun came to the school and her discipline areas are horrific. I told the headmaster about it, but he said children need discipline."
"What kind of discipline does this nun…" William asked
"Sister Helga"
"What does she use?" Julia asked
Fiona goes into a cupboard and pulls out a huge paddle, that was the size of William's head, "that's what caused Susannah's bruising"
Fiona gasped, "she told me she fell down some stairs. But this paddle, Sister Helga, in front of the headmaster, uses light taps, but if it's just me with the children in the classroom, she hits them hard. One boy, Timothy, he got hit 3 times within an hour, and he began coughing up blood"
Julia gasped and tried to hold back the tears in her eyes.
"Susannah mentioned, Timothy to us. Is he here?" William asked
"Actually he, hasn't been seen in 3 days."
"Did you notify his parents?" Julia asked
"He's an orphan, and lives with a couple, who cares for children just to get more money from the government."
"Thank you, sister, this has been helpful. Could we also have the couple's address?"
She nodded, "do you have a pen and paper?"
William reaches into his pocket, for the pen and paper, and gives it to Fiona as she writes down the address really quick, "here you go. And to help you, again, I'll keep an extra eye on Susannah today."
"Thank you, so much Fiona." Julia said
"Yes, thank you" William said and tilted his hat as they left.
They got outside, and looked at each other, "our suspicions were correct, William"
He grabs her face as they kiss and hug, "what, are we going to do, William?"
"I'll go see if Timothy's home and talk to his wards. Want to come along?"
Julia was about to say yes, when the school bell rang, "oh it's 11:00, already?"
"You got to get back to the clinic, eh?" William asked
"I do. Let me know the details?"
"Of course," and they kiss on the cheek and she leaves as he does in the opposite direction